Out of Our Minds – Brighton writers exploring mental health and the benefits of creative writing

Waterstones in central Brighton

Mental health conditions and psychiatric disorders have always interested writers and driven plot lines. Can fiction shed light and help us understand mental illness and how does the process of writing itself help those who suffer? At WATERSTONE’S in BRIGHTON on Thursday, 19 June 2014 a group of seven Brighton writers will explore the subject. The evening starts at 7:30PM and if you would like a ticket ring the bookshop on 01273 206017. It might be possible to buy a ticket on the door but it would really help Waterstones to know how many were coming in advance, not least because it means they can order the right amount of wine! Tickets cost £3 and that includes a glass of wine and a donation to MIND, the mental health charity.

Here’s the full panel line up of
Beach Hut Writers :

Bestselling novelist Lizzie Enfield will be chairing
and after we’ve had our say there will be by a Q&A session.

My role is to talk about the very real benefits of writing. There’s a
considerable body of evidence to draw upon. New
Zealand researchers discovered that wounds in 75% of
otherwise healthy senior citizens who wrote about a
traumatic event healed more quickly than those in a control
group. In the early 1990s Texas researchers divided redundant
engineers into three groups: group one didn’t write; group two
wrote about time management and group three kept a journal
about their feelings. Three months later less than 5% of the
engineers in groups oneand two had new jobs but over a
quarter of group three had found work – they weren’t going
to more interviews, but were better at being interviewed.

These results have been repeated again and again. Other
cases studies, such as one conducted at Bristol Royal Infirmary,
found that any kind of creative writing reduced anxiety and the
need for tranquillisers.

Has creative writing effected your physical and mental well being? Has it helped you through bad times? Given your self-confidence a boost when you were feeling fragile? Is it good for you?

Do please get in touch if you have a personal experience of creative writing having a beneficial effect on your life – or if there’s anything you’d like to add on the subject. Leave a comment below or, if you prefer, get in touch via the contact form.